


for a good time call...

by t_hens



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Pining, Sexual Content, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-22 06:46:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_hens/pseuds/t_hens
Summary: Dan works in a call center for a sex hotline and gets a call from a guy who is just lonely and wants to talk to someone because he's new in town. they hit it off, much to Dan surprise.he's even more surprised to find the same guy is his new neighbor Phil, who hemightjust have a bit of a crush on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will update tags and the rating as I go
> 
> beta by [fourthingsandawizard](http://fourthingsandawizard.tumblr.com)

The headset Dan is wearing beeps in his ear, signaling an incoming call. He braces himself, takes a deep breath, and hits ‘accept.’

“Hey, there, baby. What can I do for you tonight?” He uses his best phone sex voice, which he thinks is probably the furthest thing from sexy, but it seems to work.

The man on the other end of the line starts telling him all the things he’d want to do to Dan if he was there, and Dan can finish the call without doing much more than humming a few times and saying ‘oh yeah?’ in that voice that makes him cringe but seems to be doing it for the caller.

The call takes a total of twenty minutes, which is shorter than most of his calls, but that’s 60 more pounds than he had when he answered, so it’s really not the worst thing.

He stands once he’s logged off and stretches, hearing various joints pop and crack. Spending most of his night sitting isn’t the best thing for his body, but he supposes he could be digging ditches or pouring cement. 

The break room is bleak; there’s a cracked coffee pot that needs cleaning out and the shitty fluorescent lights flicker so much it gives Dan a headache, but he digs his sandwich out of the fridge and sits at the table.

Tamara, a middle aged lady that works a few desks away from Dan, grunts her hello as she pulls out her own lunch.

“How’s it going?” he asks through a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly. Normally, he wouldn’t socialize, but she was the first person he’d met at work and he’d kind of grown a soft spot for her.

“It’s going,” she replies, slurping some soup off her spoon. “My last four callers have all been over 30 minutes, so that’s something right.”

“Nice. Mine’s twenty so far. I’d like something longer, but,” he shrugs and she sniggers a little.

“What?!?” he asks, and she just shakes her head, making her thick, black curls bounce around her face.

“I’m sure you would like something longer,” she says under her breath, and her infectious laugh fills the room when he gives her an incredulous look. 

“Don’t leave!” she protests as Dan stands and stuffs the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth, throwing the cellophane in the garbage. 

“I have to go find a new work friend who won’t insult me.” He gives her a light punch in the arm and smiles to let her know that he’s not actually upset. She just rolls her eyes a bit and goes back to her soup while Dan trudges back to his desk.

-

His shift ends just a little after five in the morning, and Dan has to try and resist not falling asleep on the tube on the way home. The walk isn’t too far, but it’s cold outside and Dan desperately wishes he didn’t live so far from the tube, or that he could afford to just take a cab. He might make three pounds a minute, but that certainly didn’t translate into his paycheck.

The building he lives in is nicer than the first one he’d moved into after he’d run off to London after dropping out of uni, but not by too much. He can only afford so much for rent without having to depend on a roommate, so some sacrifices have to be made.

He checks his mail at the little mail box room at the front and starts to climb the stairs to the third floor where he lives. The lift had only worked for two days when he’d first moved in, but he really shouldn’t complain; it’s the most exercise he gets most days.

There is a crash from behind him and he halts to check what it was. 

A guy, probably around Dan’s age or a little older, is laying against the stairs where he obviously just tripped and dropped a few boxes.

“You okay?” 

The guy looks up and blushes when he sees Dan and nods.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m clumsy in general, let alone when I’m trying to carry boxes up some stairs."

Dan waits for a beat before mentally sighing and moving back down the stairs. “Need some help?” he offers, holding out his hand.

The man stares at it for a second, before taking it gingerly and standing back up.

“Thanks,” he says quietly. His eyes are probably the prettiest blue Dan has ever seen, and it takes him a few seconds to realize he still has the guy’s hand clasped in his own and is staring, probably creeping the guy out.

“Shit, sorry,” he mumbles, pulling his hand away. “Do you need any help carrying stuff up?”

He’s not sure why he’s feeling so helpful. Maybe it’s just because he’s tired, or that he remembers having to haul boxes up too many flights of stairs. Maybe it’s just how pretty his new neighbor is.

“That would be great!” he says, picking up the box he’d dropped and handing it to Dan. It’s not really even that heavy, but it’s awkward, and he can understand how easy it would be to trip with it. He hopes he won’t do the same thing and embarrass himself more than he already has.

The stranger picks up another box and starts up the steps, Dan falling into step beside him.

“I’m Phil, by the way.” He tries to hold his hand out and almost drops his box, so he just gives Dan a sheepish grin.

“Dan,” he says in reply.

They fall into silence as they trek up the stairs, but he can tell that Phil wants to say more. He keeps opening and closing his mouth and it annoys Dan a little, but it somehow also makes him want to ask what he wants to say.

“Why are you moving so early in the morning?” he finally asks, and he thinks he might hear Phil sigh in relief.

“I’m a bit of a night owl. I was too anxious about moving, so I couldn’t sleep. Figured I might as well start the process.”

“Mmm,” Dan hums. “What part of the north are you from?”

“How did you know I’m from the north!?” 

Dan raises his eyebrows and quirks a smile. “Mate, with that accent?”

Phil’s cheeks go pink again, and Dan has an errant thought about how pretty he is, before he’s trying to focus on what Phil is saying.

“I’m from around Manchester. I just finished my second Master’s degree at York and thought it was time to leave home.” He sounds sad about it, which seems a bit silly to Dan, who left home the minute he could.

“Second Master’s degree?” He can’t keep the disbelief out of his voice. Who gets two degrees? Dan couldn’t even finish one, he thinks bitterly.

“Yeah,” he says, voice still a bit sad. “I wasn’t ready to be an adult yet, so I figured I’d get another degree.”

They finally make it to the landing of the third floor, and Phil leads the way to the apartment that is apparently his, which Dan is surprised to find is only two doors down from his own. Phil has to set the box down and pat down all his pockets before he finds the key and unlocks it.

The room looks almost identical to Dan’s, except it’s empty, save for the small stack of boxes Phil’s managed to bring up by himself. Dan sets down his own load and looks around, feeling a bit awkward now that he doesn’t have something to distract himself from staring at Phil.

“Do you need any more help?” His mind is warring because part of Dan hopes he does so they can keep talking, but the larger part is absolutely knackered and is more than ready for bed.

“No, I can get them. They’re light.”

Dan nods and waits for a bit before giving him a little two finger salute and making his way out and to his own shoddy apartment. 

-

The next night at work drags by, with only four calls coming through his line. He spends most of his shift scrolling through Twitter and tumblr, seeing the same ten posts twenty times before he gives up and just rests his head on his arms.

His headset beeps and he sits up, clearing his throat and accepts the call.

“Hey, there, baby. Tell me what I can do for you,” he purrs, cringing at the falseness of his own tone.

The voice that answers is timid and it takes Dan back for a second. 

“I’m just -” the voice starts and then stops. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Just tell me what you want,” he says, letting some of his natural voice seep into his words. The person on the other end seems timid, and Dan knows how easy it is to scare someone like that away.

The man sighs and Dan can hear the puff of breath hit the speaker. “I guess I just wanted someone to talk to, but maybe this wasn’t the best option.” 

His voice is vaguely familiar, but not one that he’s heard enough to be able to place. He pushes past it, though. “We can talk,” Dan says, completely dropping the tone. “We can talk about whatever you want.”

He waits with bated breath to see if they will hang up, but he can hear them moving around on the other end.

“I guess I’m just lonely,” he finally says. “I just moved to a new town and I don’t know anyone.”

Dan feels his chest tighten a bit, the words hitting a little too close to home. He flounders around to try and find something that he can say that will actually help without getting into trouble by giving out too much personal information.

“Why did you move?”

The man makes an ‘I don’t know’ sound, and Dan can imagine it was said with a shoulder shrug. “I finished uni and I didn’t have anything better to do. And I needed to get away from my parents. They were suffocating me.”

Dan chuckles a little and then clears his throat. “What did you go to uni for?”

“Boring stuff. Like English and Linguistics and some other stuff.”

“Sounds smart.” There’s only a small part of him that is jealous and bitter about how everyone else seems more successful than he is, but he swallows it. Now is not the time or place for him to wallow in his own failures.

“I guess,” the voice chuckles a little. “I mostly did it to keep from having to grow up.”

Something about that makes something register in Dan’s head as familiar, but he ignores it, sure that it’s probably just from one of the sitcoms he leaves playing in his apartment to keep the quiet from getting too loud.

“What do you like to do for fun?”

“Really, like, embarrassing stuff, like video games and watching old tv.”

“What video games?” He’s not supposed to reveal much about himself, because most people aren’t going to pay three pounds a minute to talk to some lanky nerd from Reading, but Dan figures that he can probably fudge the rules a little tonight.

“I don’t know, kinda everything. I’ve been replaying Final Fantasy V lately and that’s been cool.”

“I love that game,” Dan replies, surprised by how genuine his voice has become. 

“Reminds me of my childhood.” There’s a chuckle on the other end of the line, and it makes something warm settle in Dan’s tummy.

He’s getting ready to ask a few more questions when the timer next to his elbow goes off. They’d somehow talked for almost an hour, and Dan hadn’t even realized it was almost time for him to leave.

“I have to end the call,” Dan says sadly. It’s the first time since he started his job that he doesn’t want to end a phone call.

“Oh, okay. Thanks for listening to me.”

“It was my pleasure.” 

There’s a beat of silence before Dan clears his throat and says his goodbye, feeling oddly disappointed.

-

Dan is checking his mailbox when he hears footsteps coming down the stairs. He turns a little to see who it is and feels a weird sense of excitement that it’s Phil coming down the stairs. 

“Oh, Dan. Hi.” Phil looks excited to see Dan, and it makes him flush a little.

“‘Lo, Phil.” Dan looks back to his mail, cheeks a little pink. “Still too excited to sleep?” he jokes as Phil takes his place next to Dan to pick up his own mail.

“No, I just stayed up all night-” He hesitates for a second before starting again, flushed a deep red. He clears his throat. “I was talking on the phone with a friend. I lost track of time.”

He feels a weird sense of deja vu listening to Phil talk, but he can’t for the life of himself figure out why.

“That’s nice.” Dan turns and starts to head up the steps to his apartment, Phil right on his heels.

“Were you at work?” Phil asks, riffling through the papers in his hands. 

“Yeah,” he replies, not bothering to elaborate more. He’s not exactly keen on people knowing his profession.

“Oh, hey!” Phil says, pointing to the Final Fantasy key chain attached to Dan’s key ring. “I love Final Fantasy!”

Something slots together in his brain, and he’s suddenly sure he remembers where he’s heard the voice from his phone call at work. The reality that it could have been his new neighbor that called into a sex chat line and spoke with him for nearly an hour is too much for his brain to handle.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” Dan says, hurrying up the last few steps and booking it to his door. He unlocks it and bolts inside, resting against the door and letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

Of all the apartment complexes in London, of course he ends up next to a client. A client with pretty blue eyes and good taste in video games and - 

Fuck, Dan realizes. He might have a crush.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan’s still leaned up against his door ten minutes later, his heartbeat finally starting to slow.

This can’t really be happening, can it? he wonders, and then immediately shakes his head. It can’t. It’s statistically improbable that his neighbor would also be one of his callers. There’s millions of people in the UK, it was probably just a coincidence. 

He finally moves and makes his way to his kitchen, pouring a bowl of stale cereal because there’s not much else and the thought of putting real effort into a meal sounds exhausting.

Outside, he hears someone trip in the hallway and can’t help but imagine it was Phil, and a smile tugs at Dan’s lips before he even realizes it.

-

Work is busy that night and for once, Dan doesn’t mind. He takes as many calls as he can, hoping against hope that the guy from last night doesn’t call back in. Though unlikely, he’s still on high alert. A part of him believes he might just be exaggerating the whole thing in his head and that the guy only sounded like Phil.

By the time his phone rings again, half way through the night, he’s managed to convince himself it’s not Phil and he was just being dramatic.

That is, until he answers what will probably be his last call of the night, and he hears the same voice. A voice that is distinctly Phil.

“Oh, I’m so happy I got you again,” Phil says after Dan answers.

He’s not sure what to say back because he’s never been in this situation before. There’s never been a caller that was someone he knew in real life, and he’s not sure how to proceed.

“You called back,” he finally says, and he hopes Phil misses the happiness in his tone.

“Yeah. I thought about our talk all day. I haven’t talked with anyone like that in a long time.”

Despite his reservations about continuing this thing, Dan feels his heart soften a bit. He knows how lonely a new city can be. Hell, he knows what loneliness feels like, period. He can’t remember the last person he properly had a conversation with other than his Nan and Tamara on occasion.

“I’m glad I could help,” he starts, a little bit unsure how to proceed. “How was your day?”

It’s a touch awkward, but this isn’t really the norm. He could dirty talk all day, but make him have a regular conversation and suddenly he doesn’t have any words.

Phil chuckles a bit, just low enough that Dan can barely hear it, but he does. “It was good. I got my internet set up.”

Dan hummed in acknowledgement. He didn’t know if he was actually allowed to ask about specific things about Phil, so he figured letting Phil tell him on his own was a good middle ground.

“Have you gotten settled into your apartment yet?”

“Sort of. I moved all the boxes upstairs, but I haven’t unpacked any. It kind of feels like if I unpack them, then I really moved and am on my own, ya know?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Dan replied. Those memories of his first few weeks in London by himself were some of the bleakest of his life, and it makes his chest ache to think that Phil felt something similar. 

“Am I allowed to ask where you live?” 

“Uh,” Dan started, unsure of what to say. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to give out any personal information or anything that would reveal his identity. That rule was in place for the men that called in for the sex portion. This was uncharted territory, so Dan decided to go forward with caution.

“I live in London.” 

“That’s where I just moved to!” Phil said, excitement tinging his voice.

Dan almost did something stupid, like saying ‘I know,’ but he just made a acknowledging noise in the back of the throat.

“What are your favorite places?” 

That seemed mostly harmless enough, so Dan told him about the comic store he liked that always had obscure comics and manga. That led them to talk about their favorite animes and tv shows, and before Dan was even aware, his end of day timer was going off.

“Does that mean you have to leave?” Phil asked, and Dan didn’t think he was imagining how sad he sounded.

“Yeah. Sorry, I have to go home.”

They said their goodbyes and Dan almost told him that he wouldn’t be there tomorrow as it was his day off, but bit his tongue. He’d already broken enough rules and didn’t want to continue to press his luck.

-

Phil was in the mail room when Dan finally trudged into the building. He wondered if Phil was deliberately waiting for him, but shoved the thought away. Surely it was just another coincidence.

“Dan!” Phil was full on beaming when he turned and saw Dan, and it made butterflies flock in Dan’s tummy. 

“Hi, Phil,” he smiled a bit, unlocking his mailbox.

“How was work?”

Dan’s heart rate picked up at the mention of his job, but he knew it was probably just Phil being polite. “Uh, it was okay. Kinda dragged on sometimes.”

They had both gathered their mall and headed up the stairs together, which really made Dan wonder if their meeting was planned. 

“Have you gotten any unpacking done?” Dan already knew the answer, but he had to remind himself that this Dan, the real life one who was standing next to Phil, didn’t know these things. 

“Nah,” he said, voice sad like it had been on the phone. “I’m kind of putting it off 'cause I don’t know if I can handle it being for real.”

Dan really just wanted to scoop Phil up into a hug and tell him it would all be okay, but he didn’t. He wasn’t a crazy person, though it took a lot of his mental strength to not just give in to those urges.

“That’s rough, mate, I’m sorry.” He stretched out his arm and patted Phil’s back in a manner he hoped wasn’t too creepy, but Phil smiled at the hand on his shoulder and then back to Dan.

“Thanks.”

There’s a moment before Dan leaves for his own apartment that he thinks of asking Phil if he needs help. Or maybe if he wants to come over and have some cereal. Or maybe make out.

But he doesn’t. He smiles and does that stupid finger salute that has apparently become his _thing_ and heads to his own apartment.

-

He doesn’t have to work that night, so when he wakes up at four in the afternoon, he feels rested and his head is a bit clearer. He cracks his joints and stands, groaning loudly into the silence of his apartment.

Rummaging around in the kitchen doesn’t produce many results, so he decides to treat himself to some fancy coffee and a pastry. Maybe even some groceries.

Once he’s dressed and has his phone, wallet, and keys in hand, he heads out and into the hallway. He won’t admit that he’s disappointed that Phil isn’t there.

-

The coffee shop is nice and Dan spends close to an hour slowly drinking his latte and picking at the piece of banana bread he’d chosen. He scrolls through his social media sites and sends a few emails to his family to check in. It’s a bit of a boring day, but sometimes those are nice.

Tesco is packed, but Dan just does his best to get in and out in a hurry. He only has a few things he really needs to get, so he tries to focus on those rather than all the snacks he would love to get and stuff his face with while watching some crappy 90’s sitcom.

He’s in the dairy area, trying to find a place to hide a broken tub of intensely creamy yogurt, when he hears someone approaching him. His first reaction is terror at being caught hiding his mess, but when he glances over to the figure, he’s happily surprised to see it’s Phil.

“The best place to hide yogurt is in the lettuce,” he whispers conspiratorially.

Dan quirks his eyebrows, but does as Phil suggested and stashes the yogurt under the green heads of lettuce, and he’s right, you can’t even tell.

“Thanks,” he says, picking his basket back up.

“‘Course.”

Phil’s own basket is filled to the brim with sweets, lactose-free milk, and some frozen pizzas.

“Glad to see you take your nutrition seriously,” he snorts, pointing to Phil’s basket.

“Hey!” Phil protests, sticking an accusing finger out to Dan’s basket. Inside is two boxes of cereal, a thing of milk, a not-smashed thing of yogurt, and a few bags of crisps.

“At least I don’t just have bags of sweets,” he challenges, but he’s grinning wide, caught up in the infectious banting.

“I suppose if we just combine our groceries, we would maybe have, like, one complete meal.”

That makes Dan laugh so hard, a few of the older people shopping near give him dirty looks.

“Is that a line?”

Phil’s cheeks turn a pretty scarlet, but he doesn’t shy away from the question.

“Maybe? Depends on if it’s working?”

Dan studies him closely, trying to decide if proceeding with this would be a good idea or not, but decides life's too short and shrugs, nodding.

“Okay, then.” Phil’s cheeks are fading to a dull pink color, but he nods and leads the way to the register with Dan in tow.

-

Dan’s not sure why he’s so surprised to see that Phil’s apartment is still bare. He’d been told numerous times that it was, but seeing how completely void of life it is makes him feel a twinge of sadness for Phil.

“Do you need help with any of this?” he asks, setting his groceries down on the same breakfast bar he has in his own apartment.

“Nah,” Phil says, already breaking into a bag of Haribo. “I’ll do it eventually.”

Dan didn’t push it, though he really wanted Phil to open up to him like he had on the phone, but that wasn’t really fair. Phil didn’t know it was Dan he was talking to, and Dan didn’t want to do or say anything that would reveal that. Because surely he’d be upset that Dan knew so much about his personal life without him explicitly telling him.

“Wanna watch a movie or something while the pizza cooks?”

Phil assuming that Dan would just stay made him feel a little warm inside. There weren’t many people who would spend more than a few minutes with him without wanting to escape.

“Yeah. What do you have to watch?”

Phil pointed to the boxes labeled ‘movies’ and started rifling through them. He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised that he and Phil had similar tastes. He knew that they agreed on most tv and anime, but they hadn’t spoken about movies yet; going through them and seeing so many familiar titles made his head spin a bit.

He chose one and popped it into the PS4, which seemed to be one of the only things unpacked in the room. That and the tv, and a few pairs of socks thrown haphazardly onto the couch.

“Ooh, Kill Bill! That’s one of my favorites!”

“Me, too,” Dan said quietly, smiling in thanks as Phil handed him a glass of Ribena. 

“Pizza will be ready soon.” Phil plopped down on the sofa, inches away from where Dan was sitting. There was more than enough room for them to be spaced out, but Dan was glad they weren’t. 

They sat in companionable silence watching the movie, not speaking unless they were talking about their favorite parts of the movie. When the timer went off signaling the pizza was done, Phil stood, and Dan was reminded of how close they were sitting as his right side became considerably colder without Phil’s warmth there. 

He returned a few minutes later with a pile of pizza on a paper plate and more Ribena.

“You’re a good host,” Dan chuckled as he took a slice from the plate.

“Thanks,” Phil said, grinning. “My mum will be happy to hear that.”

“Does your mom live in the North?”

“Yeah, her accent is even worse than mine.”

“Mmm, doubt that, mate. Yours is pretty bad.”

Watching Phil sputter and protest made it worth it when Dan choked a little on his bite of pizza. Phil thumped him on the back (which probably wasn’t the safest idea, but he appreciated the thought). 

“You just have a posh voice, so everything sounds northern to you, probably.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Dan was laughing harder than he had since he was a kid, and though that made him a little sad, it was hard not to appreciate how it felt now.

-

Dan stayed for another movie, and then another, and before he knew it, it was nearly three in the morning.

“Shit, I better go,” he mumbled, eyes heavy.

“You could stay over if you’d like?” 

Dan glanced to the couch where he’d been sitting and then back to Phil.

“I don’t think the couch would fit me, tbh.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence between them while Phil studies his face and Dan wonders if Phil is gonna offer them to share his bed, but the moment ends with Phil standing and shrugging his shoulders.

“I guess you’re right.” He looks a little put out about it, and Dan can’t help but smile.

He takes his garbage and drink to the sink and Phil follows behind him, insisting that he doesn’t need to do that.

“My nan would never forgive me if I left a mess at someone’s house.”

“I bet her and my mum would get along.”

Their eyes meet and Dan can’t quite put his finger on what it is that’s happening between them, but he hopes that Phil’s stomach is filled with butterflies, just like his is.

“Probably.”

Phil followed him to the door and held it open, ever the gentleman. “Thanks for hanging out. I’m sorry I stole so much of your day.”

Dan’s face flushed a little and he shrugged, trying to give an air of nonchalance. “‘S okay. I would have been doing the same thing at home, at least this way we didn’t have to be antisocial nerds alone, right?”

Phil’s smile widens so much it looks like his mouth might split. “Definitely.”

He lets himself out and opens the door to his own sad and lonely apartment, heading straight to bed and flopping down with his clothes still on, not wanting to give himself too much time to dwell on how much lonelier he feels without Phil sitting close to him.

-  
The next night when he comes into work, he spends far too much time looking through all of the received calls from the night before and he’s not sure how he feels about the fact that Phil hadn’t called at all last night. 

He isn’t given much time to dwell on it, as his headset beeps, and as Dan is reaching to press the accept button, he sees the already familiar digits of Phil’s phone number.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta by [fourthingsandawizard](http://fourthingsandawizard.tumblr.com)

The weekend flies by in a blur. Somewhere along the way, spending his nights talking to Phil had become routine. At some point every night, Phil will call in, and most of Dan’s time is spent talking about their favorite shows and books. It feels more natural than anything in the world.

Tamara stops by his desk before he’s ready to head home Sunday morning, eyebrows raised.

“So, you have a regular, huh?”

Dan squirms a little in his seat, but he doesn’t avoid her eyes like he wants to, lest that seem suspicious.

“Lots of people have regulars,” he defends. He’s not stupid, and he knows she isn’t either, but he’d really love to avoid being faced with the predicament he’s gotten himself into.

“That’s true,” she starts, eyes boring into Dan’s, “I just want you to be careful.”

Dan keeps eye contact and he can see the sincerity there. He knows that she doesn’t want him getting in trouble at work or in his real life. There was always a risk in taking a job like this, but that usually meant from stalkers and bad people, not adorable nerds who were a little lonely and needed someone to talk to.

“I am, I promise.” He tries to put as much honestly into the sentence as he can, and she nods in understanding. 

He leaves that night and resolves to figure out some sort of solution.

-

By the time he’s walking into his apartment lobby, he’s come up with a plan to just stop talking to Phil, both on the phone and in person. It’s not what he wants, but it’s something that needs to happen. He knows deep down he’s risking a lot over a crush.

This, of course, is easier said than done, especially when he sees Phil standing at the foot of the stairs, hands empty of mail, but a wide grin on his face.

“Have a good night at work?” Phil trails after Dan as he starts up the stairs.

He shrugs, but doesn’t say anything, hoping that would be enough to deter Phil, but of course it isn’t.

“I got a few boxes unpacked!” He sounds so proud that Dan can’t resist giving him a little smile. “I even ordered bookshelves. ‘Course I guess I should probably call them ‘movie shelves’ since I don’t have _that_ many books,” he continues, and it’s so endearing it almost irritates Dan.

“Do you have a job yet, or is your new passion ‘movie shelves.’" He does quotation marks with his hands, which makes Phil giggle.

“I do have a job, but I work from home, so I can make my own hours. Lots of time for my new passion.” He nudges his shoulder into Dan’s, which does nothing to help this whole ‘ignoring Phil’ thing he’s trying to do.

“What do you do?” 

“I edit adverts for, like, Tesco and stuff.” 

“That sounds really cool.”

Phil shrugs, looking sheepish again. “It’s okay. I’d like to do something more creative someday, but it pays the bills for now.”

They reach the third landing - and Phil’s door - and both stand there, the conversation meeting a bit of a lull, neither sure how to proceed. Dan seizes the moment, though, and starts walking toward his door.

“Oh, you’re leaving?” Phil asks, and it shouldn’t make Dan so happy to hear the disappointment in his voice, but it does.

“Yeah,” he replies, not meeting Phil’s eyes, “I have a bit of a headache, so I’m gonna try and rest.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Dan gives a small wave and unlocks his door, shutting it before he can get a look at the morose expression on Phil’s voice.

-

When Dan wakes up for work that evening, it’s with a pounding headache and a sore throat. His body feels hot and cold at the same time and he can barely open his eyes for how heavy they feel.

He gets up and gets ready, though, because aside from the one time he’d missed work because he had to have emergency surgery, he’s never missed a day and doesn’t plan on starting now.

It’s not exactly a surprise to see Phil standing in the mail room, pretending to sort through the two letters in his hand.

“Oh, hey, Dan,” he says, trying for nonchalance, but just missing the mark.

“‘Lo Phil,” Dan replies, voice raspy.

Phil looks at him properly for the first time and his face gets a little paler. “Dan, you look sick.”

“Wow, that’s rude,” he tries to joke, but it falls flat when he starts to cough so hard he gets little black spots in his vision.

“C’mon,” Phil says, gently taking Dan’s arm and leading him back upstairs.

“Can’t miss work,” Dan protests weakly, letting Phil lead him to the third floor.

“Sure you can.”

-

Phil takes him back to his apartment and Dan has a moment of panic thinking of Phil being in his space, before deciding he really doesn’t care. Of all the people in the world who would judge him, Phil didn’t seem like a likely prospect.

“It’s messy, just to warn you,” he croaks and he can feel Phil’s chuckle from behind him as he unlocks the door.

Dan leaves the room to call in sick while Phil busies himself with finding the paracetamol and getting Dan a giant glass of water, which he insists Dan finishes before he sits down.

“You don’t have to spend your whole night taking care of me.” Dan’s laying down on his couch, and Phil pulls the blanket over him before sitting down and pulling Dan’s legs on to his lap.

“I know I don’t _have_ to, but I _want_ to.”

Dan tries to ignore the way that his heart swells when he hears those words, but it’s futile. He knows deep down that he’s supposed to be putting some distance between himself and Phil, but it’s hard when Phil is so cute and sweet and obviously seems to care about Dan to some degree.

“Okay,” Dan whispers, but he knows Phil can hear him, based on the way his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile.

-

Dan sleeps most of the evening, which seems ridiculous considering he’d only been awake thirty minutes or so before he’d passed back out. When he comes to, Phil has his head leaned back on the couch cushion and is lightly snoring. He can feel the pressure in his bladder and knows he is gonna have to get up, but the last thing he wants is to wake Phil up. 

Phil wakes up all on his own about thirty seconds later, and it seems to take him a few seconds to remember where he is before he turns his face to Dan and smiles so wide it makes Dan feel a bit breathless.

“Hello,” he says, stretching as best he can with Dan’s legs still on his lap. Dan goes to move them, but Phil holds them in place, smiling again.

“Feel any better?”

Dan shrugs. “Not especially. I’m really thirsty and I need to wee.” Phil chuckles and lets go of Dan’s legs so he can get up, standing himself. 

When Dan comes back in, Phil has a fresh glass of water and more medicine waiting for him.

“Are you hungry?”

Dan nods while trying to drink some of his water, and it ends up dribbling down his chin. Phil laughs lightly and takes the empty cup when Dan finishes.

“Do you like pizza?”

He gives Phil an incredulous look. “Mate, who doesn’t like pizza?”

“Good point.” Phil gets on his phone and leans in close to where Dan is sitting on the couch, holding the screen so that Dan can see it, too.

“Which toppings do you want?”

Dan knows for a fact that Phil’s favorite pizza is the sizzler and that he doesn’t like cheese, but doesn’t mind it on pizza, but that isn’t information that Phil has specifically told Dan, just the person he thinks is on the other end of their phone calls. It feels like cheating to use the information that Phil had told him without Phil knowing it was him.

-

Dan lets Phil pick out a movie while they wait for the pizza. He picks a horror film that he said he’d heard good reviews on, and Dan agrees faintly, not wanting to tell Phil that he’s easily scared and is a bit chicken when it comes to horror.

About a quarter way into the film is the first jump scare, and Dan actually squeaks. Phil giggles and Dan pouts a bit, but it doesn’t last for long because Phil adjusts how he’s sitting so he’s pressed right up against Dan and puts his arm around his shoulders.

“This okay?” he asks so softly Dan almost doesn’t heart it.

“Yeah,” Dan replies, cheeks flushed, though he hopes maybe Phil will mistake it for a fever.

They sit like that, pressed so close that Dan can feel it every time Phil takes a deep breath or moves in the slightest. The movie is still scary, but he doesn’t mind as much when it means he can press his face into Phil’s chest every time a particularly scary moment comes on.

“We can change the film,” Phil tells him quietly. Dan lifts his head to reply, and that’s maybe a bit of a mistake because Phil is just _so_ close, and Dan can see the way that his eyes are actually three different colors and he has a sprinkling of light freckles across his cheeks. Dan forgets for a moment that he’s meant to be replying. 

Phil’s eyes move from Dan’s down to his lips and moves just the tiniest amount closer. Dan is holding his breath, waiting for what seems to be the inevitable moment their lips meet, when the doorbell rings, shocking them both.

“Fuck,” Dan mutters as he leans back. Phil’s pupils are blown wide, and when he moves back, he lets out a puff of air before standing to answer the door.

-

There is a bit of awkward tension between them as Phil sets the pizza down and takes his place next to Dan. They aren’t sitting as close anymore, and Dan is painfully aware of the space between them.

“This is really good,” Dan says, trying to bridge the stretching gap between them.

Phil nods enthusiastically, mouth full of food. “It’s my favorite pizza.”

Dan almost does something stupid like saying, ‘I know,’ but he catches himself before it’s too late. Instead, he nods towards the film where the credits are rolling and asks if Phil wants to watch another. He hesitates for a second before placing his slice back down on the cardboard, scooting so he’s practically sat on Dan’s lap. He presses his wrist to Dan’s forehead and nods his head.

“Yup, you still have a fever. Probably best for me to stay and keep an eye on you.” Phil drops his wrist, but doesn’t move away from Dan. Every tiny breath that Phil takes, Dan can feel, and when their eyes meet, Dan doesn’t have the strength to keep from leaning forward and locking his lips with Phil’s.

-

Time has no meaning when Dan is kissing Phil. It feels like the first breath of fresh air after being indoors for too long. Like a warm cup of tea on a cold night. It feels right.

After what feels like minutes, or maybe hours, Dan pulls Phil on top of him and the kisses change to something a bit more urgent, a little hotter. Phil’s tongue presses against Dan’s lips, and he opens his mouth to welcome it. With a swipe of Phil’s tongue against his own, Dan feels himself start to harden. 

Phil seems to become aware of this at the same time Dan does, because he breaks away from the kiss, but makes no move to get off of him.

“Is this okay?” 

Dan’s not sure how it could possibly be _more_ okay than it is now, until he nods and Phil moves back on top of him, pressing his own erection into Dan’s hip.

Dan whines low in his throat; though he spends his days dirty talking, it’s been quite a while since he’s gotten laid. And now he has what might be the fittest guy he’s ever met on top of him, and he has to focus all his brain power into not coming in his pants like a teenager.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dan gasps, pressing lightly on Phil’s chest. 

“What? Are you okay?” 

Dan already wants to kiss Phil again even though they just parted, but especially because he’s just so damn sweet. 

“Yeah, I’m just-,” he starts, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “I’m just, like, really close.”

Phil doesn’t laugh like Dan might have thought, but he does burrow his face into Dan’s neck and lets out a shuddering breath against the sensitive skin of Dan’s neck, which really doesn’t help the situation.

“God, I am, too.” The relief and simultaneous hotness of the statement makes Dan throb.

“Fuck,” he breaths as Phil starts sucking on his neck. Dan arches into it, causing their erections to rub together in a delicious way.

It only takes a few minutes of thrusting and grinding before Dan is right on the edge, ready to tip over. “Phil, fuck, I’m gonna come,” he whines, fisting his hand into Phil’s hair and tugging. It elicits a surprised gasp and eager thrust from Phil and that’s all it takes for Dan to be coming. He whines and pulls on Phil’s hair as he rides through the wave of arousal that’s hit him and on some level of awareness, he can hear and feel Phil coming, too.

-

They lay together on the couch for so long Dan almost falls asleep, but he gets a coughing fit, which is what finally has Phil moving off of his body, though that is the last thing he wants.

Once Dan’s lungs are finally clear, he slumps back against the cushions. He can feel the come cooling inside his boxers, and he knows that he needs to get up and change, but he’s tired and high on endorphins and kinda wants to still be kissing Phil. 

“Was that okay?” Phil asks sheepishly.

Dan’s head rolls to the side to face Phil and raises his eyebrows. “I haven’t come that quickly in a very long time. Trust me, it was great.”

It’s satisfying to watch the way Phil’s cheeks pinken. He ducks his head, but Dan can clearly see the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile.

“I need to get cleaned up,” Dan says, heaving himself upwards. 

His blood pressure drops suddenly and he’s about to hit the ground, before Phil grabs him and pulls him to his chest.

“Whoa. You okay?”

Dan doesn’t answer for a second, just enjoys the warmth of Phil’s body pressed so tightly against his own and the slightly sweet smell of his cologne.

“Yeah.” Dan gets his balance back, but doesn’t move away from Phil. “Do you need to go home?” 

Phil doesn’t hesitate before shaking his head. His enthusiasm is catching, and Dan smiles as he pulls Phil towards the shower.

Dan knows that he needs to figure out a course of action, one that hopefully doesn’t end with anyone getting hurt - though he understands that that might not be possible - but he knows it will be worth it. He knows that _Phil_ is worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

When Dan wakes up, he’s too hot, but the only lingering bit from being sick yesterday is the light scratch in his throat and dull throb at his temples. It takes a moment before he realizes why he’s sweating when it’s the middle of October. The arm draped over his hip and the chest pressed tightly to his back answer his question, though, and he feels a thrill remembering he and Phil’s tryst on the couch and the following shower.

Phil moves behind him, adjusting to get more comfortable, and in doing so, presses his morning wood against Dan’s backside. It’s a testament to both how long it’s been since Dan’s been a position like this, and how fit he thinks Phil is, that he instantly feels himself harden.

He pushes back lightly, unable to help himself, and Phil grunts as he rubs against Dan, who breaks out in giggles.

“Wha’,” Phil mumbles, removing his arm to rub at his eyes. 

“Morning,” Dan whispers, turning over in his tiny bed.

“Isn’t it technically night?”

Dan shrugs, “Time isn’t real. If I say it’s morning, it’s morning.”

Phil grins and pulls Dan closer so that they are completely pressed together and he’s wrapped in Phil’s long arms. “So, does that mean you’re gonna make me pancakes?”

“Mmm,” he hums into Phil’s chest, “I can’t cook for shit. I also need to go to work.”

“Dumb,” Phil mumbles, and it makes Dan giggle again. 

“Rain check?”

Phil’s face breaks out into a wide grin, and Dan can feel butterflies fill his tummy. 

“‘Course.” 

He leans in to kiss Dan, and though they both need to brush their teeth and Dan’s sure his hair looks like a bird nest, that doesn’t stop them from laying there and making out until Dan’s alarm has sounded.

-

Phil walks him to the door when it’s time to leave, and then downstairs to the bottom of the stairs, pouting adorably when Dan has to unlock Phil’s arms from around his waist and open the door to leave.

The ride to work isn’t even as bad as it normally is. The glares and rudeness of the London Underground can’t get to him when he can still remember the exact shape of Phil’s mouth and the way his fingers feel when they’re pressed to his hips. 

When he gets to work, he’s only been stood at his desk for about thirty seconds before Tamara is pulling him to the break room by his arm.

“What the hell!” he demands when she’s led him inside and shut the door behind them.

“Dan, please, _please_ tell me that you were actually sick yesterday and you weren’t off doing God knows what with your regular.” She looks upset, but Dan can recognize the concern on her face and it makes any of the irritation that had been building in his chest deflate.

“I was sick,” he starts and then he has to look away to finish the sentence. “I did spend time with Phil though.”

Tamara knows it all, because when it comes down to it, she’s the only person he speaks to on even a semi regular basis and he had to tell _someone_! Now, though, he’s almost wishing he would have kept his mouth shut.

“Dan.” She presses her fingertips to her temples as though the conversation is giving her a headache. “You know you could get fired for that. And also, like, murdered.”

“You know it’s not like that,” he protests, but they both know it is a little bit like that. “He isn’t gonna hurt me,” Dan tacks on.

“You don’t know that. You’ve known him, what, a month? And if most of the things you know about him are things he’s told you when you’re using a different name and an altered voice, do you really think that counts? Do you think he would be okay with that?”

She’s putting words to all of the fears and worries Dan has had in his head since this whole thing started, but he can’t bring himself to regret it. 

“I really care about him.”

Tamara looks sad when she nods and clutches her dark fingers around his wrist. “I know you do. So you need to tell him and stop this whole thing.”

She leaves before Dan can respond, so he’s left standing in the desolate room that somehow seems fitting for all the turmoil going on in his head.

-

Phil calls about halfway through the night, but Dan declines it for the first time since that first night he’d taken his call. He’s not sure he would be able to talk to Phil right now without spilling everything and causing even more problems than he already has.

He refuses his next call, too, just because he can, but his supervisor comes to his desk after that and tells him that he either needs to go home or accept some calls. Dan accepts the next call and tries his best to stay out of his head until his shift is over.

-

The mail room is empty when Dan gets home in the morning. The spot Phil is normally waiting is vacant, and it shouldn’t make Dan’s heart race, but it does. Maybe he found out and doesn't want anything to do with Dan now? Maybe he was hurt? Dan’s overactive imagination has him racing up the stairs, even though he is out of breath by the time he’s halfway up the second flight and has to stop and rub at the stitch he’s getting in his side.

When he finally gets to the third floor, he makes a beeline for Phil’s door and knocks harder than is probably appropriate for twenty past five in the morning. There’s no answer, and Dan’s not sure he remembers how to breath.

He’s about to knock again, louder this time, when Phil pulls the door open. He has bed head and his eyes are swollen with sleep, but he beams when he sees Dan.

“You’re home!” 

Dan’s cheeks flush at that, enjoying the sound of ‘home’ being somewhere with Phil, but he doesn’t dwell on it as Phil pulls him inside none too gently.

“Fell asleep waiting for you,” he breathes on to Dan’s neck. He backs them up until Dan’s pinned between the door and Phil’s sleep-warmed body. Not that he’s complaining, though.

“Sorry,” Dan says, because he can’t really form coherent thoughts when Phil is sucking lightly on the pulse point that has him breathing embarrassingly hard.

“Don’t be sorry. You’re here now, that’s what counts.” Phil’s teeth dig into his neck and his cock swells almost painfully fast, and he has words on the tip of his tongue that he knows he needs to say, but it’s hard to think straight when his entire body is covered with Phil’s body.

Phil pulls away from Dan suddenly and he’s about to panic, but Phil just smiles coyly and tugs on Dan’s hand to follow. He leads them to his bedroom, and Dan has to turn off his arousal so he can properly appreciate this piece of Phil that he’s getting to see.

He’d been told a lot about Phil’s room during their chats. He knows before he sees it that Phil has a blue lava lamp next to his tv and that the dvd’s on the bookshelf next to his bed are filled with his favorites that he watches the most, like Buffy and the X-Files. He even knows that Phil currently has an old pair of Avenger sheets on his bed because he’d dropped his toast and marmalade on the set that matches the blue and green duvet on his bed.

Dan doesn’t comment on any of those things, though, because those aren’t things that Dan is supposed to know. An anonymous person knows those facts, and Dan is sure that if Phil knew that Dan was that same person, he wouldn’t be pushing Dan down onto said sheets and straddling his waist.

Anymore thoughts are driven out of Dan’s head as Phil grinds his hips against Dan’s and slips his tongue into Dan’s waiting mouth. It’s hot, and there’s so much arousal and adrenaline coursing through his body that he almost feels dizzy, but it’s worth it to hear the way Phil gets a bit breathy and his whole body twitches as Dan’s fingers graze over his nipples.

“Sensitive?” Dan teases, flicking the tiny nub again. Phil whines in response and thrusts his hips down a little bit harder, making any follow up comments die on his tongue.

-

Little by little, more and more of their clothes disappear until the only thing separating them is their boxers and the pair of mismatched socks Phil had tried to remove but had given up on.

They’re kissing and grinding and it’s _so_ good, but Dan needs more. He wants all of Phil, but he doesn’t know how to say it, so he slowly dips his hands below Phil’s boxers to grab at his surprisingly full bum and kneads the soft skin.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he whines, pushing back into the feeling.

“Want you,” Dan murmurs into Phil’s mouth, trying to kiss him even though Phil isn’t great at multi-tasking and is mostly panting and whining.

“I’m yours.”

Two words shouldn’t do so much to him, but Dan almost chokes on the emotion that wells up in his throat at that. He sits up and shimmies out of his pants, laying back and spreading his legs so that there is nowhere to hide from Phil’s hungry gaze. It makes him feel more wanted than he ever has, and he kind of wants to cry with how overwhelmed he is with everything that’s happened in such a short amount of time.

Phil has to get up and rifle through his bedside drawer to find some lube, but once he does, he’s pouring too much onto his fingers and is slowly, and a lot more gently than Dan expected, circling Dan’s rim and pushing in.

Dan’s had sex plenty of times and masturbates plenty, but nothing can quite prepare him for what it feels like to have _Phil_ be the one that’s touching him like this; like he’s something special and precious and breakable. Like Phil cares.

There are tears welling up in Dan’s eyes so he shuts them and throws an arm over his face, not wanting Phil to see and think that there is anything wrong. Because truthfully, nothing has ever felt more right. 

He goes slow and makes sure Dan is open and slick before rolling a condom on and hovering just far enough away from Dan that he can feel the heat of Phil’s body, but nothing more.

“You’re sure?” Phil asks, and it’s surprising how steady his voice is given how badly his hands are shaking.

“ _Please_ ,” is the only thing that Dan can get out. Phil pulls Dan's arms away, and he knows that Phil can see how misty his eyes are, but he just presses a quick kiss to Dan’s lips before slowly pushing in.

It’s perfect. Phil fits inside of Dan like they were made for each other and once he’s adjusted and Phil starts to move, Dan doesn’t even bother to hide his face. He knows he looks like a crying mess, but Phil just gently thrusts into him and alternates between kissing his neck and whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

“You feel so good.” Dan hums and clings to Phil harder, not trusting his voice or his words to not betray just exactly how much all this is affecting him. He grips on to Dan’s aching cock and tugs and twists his wrist just right and it’s heaven. 

“I’m so happy I met you.” Phil sounds like he’s out of breath and tired, but he keeps going, not stopping until Dan’s toes are curling and he’s coming harder than he ever has. Phil follows almost immediately after, body twitching inside Dan and he can feel an aftershock of pleasure as they both come down.

Phil slumps forward and collapses on Dan and he grunts and laughs, but doesn’t make any move to make Phil get off of him.

“Wow.” Phil’s voice is a bit slurred, almost like he’s drunk, and it makes Dan laugh again.

“Wow? Is that your official review?”

“Mmm,” Phil nods and gives Dan a tired grin. “Amazing.”

-

They take another shower together and Phil washes Dan’s hair, and they spend most of their time making out until the water turns cold and they have to run back into Phil’s room because all the towels he owns are on the floor of his bedroom.

Phil makes them bowls of cereal and they eat in Phil’s bed while he tells the story of the toast and stained sheets and it reminds Dan of why he came over in the first place.

He starts to tell Phil about ten different times, but never follows through, chickening out each time. Phil doesn’t seem to notice and just crunches on his Shreddies and laughs when Dan says anything even mildly humorous. It’s easy, like they’ve known each other forever. Dan’s heart aches thinking that this could be the last night he gets to have Phil like this, and he almost wants to cry again, but instead he slurps the milk out of his bowl and when Phil is finished doing the same thing, he moves their bowls to the floor and burrows himself into the safety of Phil’s warm, broad, chest.

“You okay?” Phil asks into his hair.

Dan could do it, he could tell him right now, but Dan just nods and squeezes Phil’s middle a little tighter. “Just happy,” he answers and he can’t see the smile on Phil’s face, but he can feel it against the top of his head and the way Phil holds him a little tighter.

“Me, too.”

-

Dan wakes up before Phil and before his alarm goes off, so he slips out of bed and presses a light kiss on Phil’s forehead before slowly making his way out of Phil’s flat and into his own. He showers and gets ready as quickly as he can because maybe he can slip back into Phil’s bed and they can make out a bit before he has to leave. 

He opens the door and nearly has a heart attack when he finds Phil standing on the other side of the door, hand raised to knock.

Dan clutches at his heart and laughs breathlessly. “Jesus, Phil you scared the hell out of me.”

Phil doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even grin. He looks pale and upset, and Dan’s about to ask what’s wrong when Phil holds up a plain looking envelope. 

“What-?” Dan starts, but when he realizes what it is, the words get stuck in his throat. 

It’s a clearly marked envelope with the hot line’s name in the corner and Dan’s name clearly written below. It’s probably just his pay stub, but it doesn’t matter what it is, because Phil obviously understands that Dan has some sort of connection there, whether he realizes it’s where Dan works, or perhaps just that he’s called. 

“I can explain,” Dan says, weakly.


	5. Chapter 5

It’s been five minutes full of loaded and tense silence. Dan had invited Phil inside and they’d sat on the couch, a too large distance between them, but neither had spoken a word.

Dan tries to find something else to look at other than Phil, but it’s proving difficult. The minutes stretch by painfully slowly and it feels like a year before Phil starts to talk.

“Do you work here?” He’s still holding the envelope in his hand, and Dan has a fleeting thought of hoping there’s not something important in there because Phil’s properly crushing it in his trembling hands.

“Yes,” Dan replies, looking at Phil, though Phil doesn’t look back. He’s staring at the ground hard, like it’s the one who has betrayed his trust.

“Are you the person I’ve been talking to?”

Dan nods and Phil takes in a deep breath before blowing it out harshly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I-,” he starts, but doesn’t even know how to finish the sentence. No reason sounds like enough. “I didn’t know it was gonna keep happening. I thought it was just a one off, but then you kept calling, and I love talking to you and-.”

“That doesn’t matter, though. I thought I was talking to a stranger. I thought it was just some anonymous person I would never meet.” Phil is finally looking at Dan, but he kind of wishes he’d look at the floor again because it’s all a lot more real when Dan has to face him. “I talked to you about _you_ for fucks sake.”

That makes guilt burn deep in Dan’s stomach. Phil had talked to him about what was happening, and though he knew it wasn’t right, Dan had let it continue because he was selfish enough to want to know exactly what Phil thought of him.

“I know, I’m sorry. I should have told you right away.”

“Yes, you should have.” Phil drops the letter and puts his head in the palm of his hands. He stays that way for a few seconds before lifting it up and looking at Dan again. “How did I not know it was you, but you knew it was me?”

“There’s, uh, like voice distortion that they use. So that people have a hard time figuring out who we are.”

Phil nods and his eyes are far away as he thinks. Dan wants to reach out and touch him but he doesn’t because he’s not even sure this thing that had been happening between them is still something he is allowed to want.

“I think I need some time to think.” Phil stands abruptly and leaves, the door shutting quietly because even though he’s upset, Phil isn’t the type to slam doors.

Dan stares at the spot on the couch that Phil had just been sitting in and does his best not to cry as he gathers his things and heads to work.

-

It’s a rough night. Most of Dan’s calls end up getting dropped because it’s obvious he’s not trying. His supervisor comes around halfway through the night and sends him home, telling him to get some rest and try again tomorrow. Dan’s not sure if there _will_ be a tomorrow, but he doesn’t protest, just stands and shoulders his backpack.

-

Though he isn’t really expecting him to be there, Dan’s stomach clenches uncomfortably when he sees Phil isn’t waiting for him downstairs. He climbs up the stairs to the third floor and pauses at Phil’s door, but doesn’t knock or say anything because Phil had asked for time, and Dan’s going to respect that even though it makes him feel nauseated.

He falls into bed and doesn't bother doing more than toeing his shoes off. It feels odd that he’s only spent one night with Phil, but now the bed seems empty without Phil beside him. Even just the idea that he could never talk to Phil again, or get to touch him or kiss him, makes Dan’s heart ache and he burrows his face into his pillow, trying to push down the urge to cry even though it’s futile and the tears come anyway.

-

There is a knock on his door sometime after his sobs quiet and he’s almost asleep, but the sound makes him bolt out of bed. He trips over his shoes and almost bashes his face into his desk, but he pushes himself up and runs to the door.

Phil is standing there; his eyes are bloodshot and he has bags under his eyes from not sleeping, but he still looks so pretty, Dan almost starts crying again.

“Can I come in?” Phil asks, his voice a bit gruff.

Dan nods and moves out of the way so that Phil can sit down. He chooses the same spot on the couch that he did every time, and despite the tense atmosphere, it makes Dan smile a little.

He takes a seat next to Phil and stays quiet until he looks ready to talk.

“I want you to know that I’m still upset.” Dan nods, but Phil continues. “I’m upset that you didn’t tell me and let me spill my guts to you. I wish you would have told me who you were.”

“I couldn’t,” Dan says, his voice taking on a pleading tone. “I would have been fired.”

Phil stares at him for a second before looking away. “So, you like your job?”

“That’s not fair, Phil,” Dan says, feeling heat creep up his neck. “I make decent money and it’s a job I could get without having a degree. I got it when I first moved to London, and I’ve never had any problems before.”

“Until you met me?” Phil counters, his brow furrowed.

“That’s not what I mean. I didn’t see any issue with my job until we started talking, and then it all happened so fast, and I like you _so much,_ and I know that doesn’t excuse anything, I just loved talking to you and I wanted to have that any way that I could.”

Phil sighs deeply and rubs his face over his hands. “I don’t know how long I’m gonna be upset about this. It might be a long time. I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”

It absolutely breaks Dan’s heart, but he knew deep down that it was a possibility. 

“I’m gonna take some time to think, and I think it would be best if we didn’t talk for a while.”

Dan wants to cry and scream that this isn’t fair, but deep down he knows it is. He owes it to Phil to give him the space and time he’s asking for. 

“Okay.” His voice cracks a bit, but he doesn’t cry like he wants to, just follows Phil to the door so that he can shut it behind him. 

The sound is too loud in his apartment, and he feels an awful sense of dread that that could be the last time he ever talks to Phil.

-

He calls into work that night, and then the next, and again the next night because he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to face that place again. There are too many bittersweet memories tied to Phil there.

Tamara shows up one night after Dan had called in again and hardly waits for Dan to open the door before she’s barging in and pointing a long, manicured finger at him.

“Listen up, Howell, you need to get your shit together.” She uses that mum voice that Dan hates a bit because it reminds him of being sixteen and powerless, but he doesn’t argue, he just slumps a bit and tries not to cry.

She lowers her finger and pulls him in for a hug instead. It’s a bit awkward since she’s almost a foot shorter than Dan and her curls are tickling his face, but it’s a good, strong hug, and Dan melts into it.

“Phil found out,” he says, and he feels her start to let go and wants to cling to her like he did his Nan when he was little, but he resists. 

Tamara nods sadly. “Yeah, I figured.”

“He said he wants space and doesn’t know if he can trust me anymore.” Fat tears are streaming down his face and he brushes them away impatiently.

“You knew that might happen.” 

“I know.” 

Tamara pats him on the cheek and tells him to go sit down while she makes tea. Dan lays his head back while he listens to her putter around and try to find everything. When she comes back, he drinks the scalding liquid too fast, but it makes him feel better in a way he knows is mostly placebo.

“What are you gonna do now?” She asks it as if there are plenty of choices in front of Dan, and he just hasn’t picked one yet.

“What can I do? If I stay at that job, I don’t think Phil will ever talk to me, but I’m not qualified to do anything else.”

He wants to doom and gloom like he normally would, but she doesn’t let him.

“You could do a lot of things Dan, I just think that you haven’t tried.”

Dan wants to get mad and tell her that’s not true, but they both know it is. He’s become complacent and had stopped trying to find anything better ages ago.

“I’m a uni dropout, what could I even do?”

She stares at him long and hard for a few seconds before getting up to find the purse she’d dropped on the floor when she’d came in. She rifles around in it for a moment before jotting something down on a receipt and handing it to Dan.

It has a name and number, and Dan stares at her and then the paper, confusion written all over his face.

“This is my cousin. He’s the admissions director at the university. Give him a call.”

Fear and excitement course through him and he wants to refuse to, because university is scary and a lot of commitment that he’s not sure he’s ready for, but Tamara stops him before he can fully spiral. She places her warm palm a top of Dan’s and squeezes gently.

“Just promise me you’ll at least think about it?”

He nods and hugs her again, murmuring his thanks. She holds him tight for a second before standing to leave.

“Let me know what you end up deciding, okay?”

He nods, and when she leaves he goes back to bed, paper still clutched in his hand.

**Two Months Later**

Dan feet are tired from the long walk back to his apartment, and his shoulders ache from the weight in his backpack, but he somehow feels lighter than he has in ages. It’s cold outside, the streets starting to show the oncoming Christmas season, and it makes a smile tug on his face. 

He opens the door to the apartment building and goes to check his mail because it’s been too long since he’s been avoiding this particular room for a while now.

He’s definitely not expecting to see Phil there. He’s not sure if he should leave and come back later, or pretend like nothing had happened between them, so he ends up being stuck there awkwardly when Phil’s eyes find him.

There is a moment where time seems suspended and they just stare at each other before someone runs down the stairs and snaps them both out of it. Dan decides to get his mail anyway, since Phil had already seen him, and tries not to exude all the emotions that are building up in him now.

It had been a long time since he’d properly seen more of Phil than just his back or the top of his head. Phil seemed to have memorized his schedule so that they were never in the same place at the same time, which is why seeing him now seems so odd.

“Hi,” Phil says quietly, shocking Dan so much he drops his keys. 

He scrambles to pick them up and stares at Phil until he realizes he should be replying. 

“Shit, hi, sorry.” Phil smiles a bit and Dan’s heart sings seeing it again.

“You’re up during the day.”

It feels like a white flag, so Dan takes it eagerly. “Uh, yeah. Today was my first day back at uni.”

Surprise is written all over Phil’s face and his lips tug up into another smile. “That’s good, right?”

Dan nods, a smile on his own face. “Yeah. It’s really good. I think I’m gonna like it.”

That maybe is an exaggeration. He knows that just because he’s a little older and a tad bit more mature doesn’t mean he’s suddenly going to enjoy maths and revising, but it feels good working towards something and having a tangible goal.

“I’m glad.”

Dan’s not sure where to go from here, so he unlocks his box and gathers the stack of mail before giving Phil an awkward wave. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you later.”

He starts walking towards the steps, but Phil calls out to him before he’s even made two steps. Dan turns and waits while Phil’s cheeks flush and he wrings his hands.

“Do you maybe wanna come over? I got that new Crash Bandicoot game and would really love someone to play it with.”

It takes all the willpower Dan has not to do something cheesy like pump his fist in celebration, or rush forward and kiss Phil, but it’s a near miss. 

“I’d love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find this fic on [tumblr](https://tobieallison.tumblr.com/post/186085385011/for-a-good-time-call) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/ta_hens/status/1147344194169475072)


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